


But Turn'd Aside to Sleep

by idolatry



Category: Supernatural
Genre: 1 Sentence Fiction, Gen, I kinda failed and I don't care, One Word Prompt Meme
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-10-16
Updated: 2013-05-06
Packaged: 2017-11-16 10:05:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/538302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idolatry/pseuds/idolatry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Moments with the boys and their guardian angel.  Title from John Donne: "They who one another keep / Alive, ne'er parted be."  Beware language.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Walking

_The pack is heavy, and the air is cold, and Sam wonders why this time his leaving feels like a betrayal and not a beginning._

Waltz

_Bela smells enticingly of licorice and mulled wine, and Dean tries to forget it as he smirks at Sam over her hair._

Wishes

_Castiel listens, of course, to Dean's pleas, unspoken and louder than Sam's screams, and wishes the stubborn man would find the courage to ask for his help, even if there is nothing he can do._

Wonder

_When he visits heaven now, he rarely goes to Arthur's flowered lawn -- he is drawn, as always, to his charges, who make a space for him on the hood of the Impala and watch the dance of the spheres overhead, and he thinks this might be what his Father meant when He told him to find peace._

Worry (follows Wonder)

_"The concern I feel for you and your brother's wellbeing is a very old habit of mine.  Your ascent to heaven is unlikely to break me of it."  Dean smiles and responds easily, "Beer?"_

Whimsy

_By the time Dean, age eleven, gets back to the laundry room, the t-shirts and pants are neatly folded and stacked, and Castiel wonders how many more of these trips he can make while there's a war in Heaven twenty years from now._

Waste/Wasteland

_The Impala skids to a stop on the suddenly paved road, and they crane their necks to look through the rear window and watch the elegant sweeps of the plantation house collapse, and then they exhale, simultaneous sighs of relief, of another nightmare over._

Whiskey

_Dean pulls the bottle from under his bed -- and shoves it back when Sam walks over to him with a twenty in his fist.  "Pizza," the thirty-year-old kid demands, eyes knowing and determined.  "Yeah, alright," Dean says._

War (a Real Life Reference)

_Cas wakes and the boys -- over forty now -- are snickering in the front seats, so he lifts a hand and tugs at the squishy, fruity thing under his nose.  "It's a wormstache," says Sam, sprawling over his seat with giggles.  Dean guffaws, "It suits you, man."  So Cas leaves it on and allows himself the indignity of a smile of his own._

Weddings (but who is she tho)

_"Better late than never" is her counter, tucking her short grey locks up into her cap.  Dean, behind her, is laughing with his eyes because he must have known this was coming, while Sam looks like a fish.  "Y-es?" he answers._

Birthday

_"It's your birthday, Castiel," and Sam Winchester is smiling so hugely, like it is the best day of the year.  "This is not..." he stumbles, confused, and Dean claps his shoulder.  "Day you Fell for us.  What, you don't remember?"  Of course he does, it is only... "I am no longer human, I returned to Heaven."  Sam's mouth hardens.  "Doesn't matter, man.  You're one of us."  Dean nods and shoves the cool, wet bottle into his hands.  "So we're celebrating."_

Blessing

_As Sam begins the warding benediction, one of the chicks flushes pink, her dilated pupils glued to Sam's mouth, and Dean rolls his eyes and tries not to hurl._

Bias

_Meg knows better than to expect anything but hatred from humans, and she laughs with the other demons at Ruby's foolish attempts to get Dean to accept her._

Burning

_Successful conversation requires a common frame of reference, so even when it means fighting off his nightmares alone, Dean is grateful that he can't talk to Sam about Hell._

Breathing

_Cracked ribs are the worst, Dean thinks, exhaling with a whine and willing Sam to wake up and close the curtains so he won't have to._

Breaking (or, Intentionally Vague Pronouns)

_It's a slow fracture, and insidious, which is why gluing him back together is so frustrating.  He watches him oh-so-carefully and patches up one side, only to find the other cracks have spiderwebbed while his attention was fixed._

Belief

_"Did you ever find Him?" Dean asks once, while Sam is sleeping.  He hesitates, trying to understand himself.  "Yes," he says eventually, "but ... it was more the essence of Him, rather than the deity Himself."  Dean's brow furrows, so Castiel looks pointedly at him.  "I mean I found my faith, Dean, and that is the same as finding God."  "You're messed up," the human accuses, and smiles at the television._

Balloon

_"You don't like balloons now?" Dean yells, insulted and incredulous as Sammy shakes his head.  "Why the fuck not?"  And then he remembers the hunt with Dad last week, at the circus, and he lets the string go, relieved when Sammy smiles a little watching it float into the mesosphere._

Balcony

_It's too hot, and back through the sliding door which leads to the bedroom he can hear Lisa stir in her sleep, but Dean remains outside because it's the only time he'll let himself edge around thoughts of Sam and Hell._

Bane

_"Wolfsbane, Dean, I told you we need some!"  The growls grow louder.  "Well then -- -- you shoulda gotten it yourself, dammit!"_

Quiet (companion to Belief)

_Heaven is too quiet; angels have no need for companionship and all the noise that comes with it, and Castiel realizes how much he craves that interaction now, so when the perfect silence above gets to be too much, he sinks down to a motel room where the TV and a buzzing light have been left on but the brothers breathe and shift in their sleep.  His siblings might call it cacophonous and wasteful, but it is paradise._

Quirks (a Purgatory story)

_Dean sees Cas's hand twitch and wonders why the angel thinks his blade could do any good against a Purgatory vamp bite.  "Guess that's it for me," he grins, clutching his bleeding wrist.  "_ No _," Castiel says, and though the blade they lost miles back would indeed be useless, Dean takes heart from Cas's instinctual defiance on his behalf._

Question (a Purgatory story)

_Can the door even be opened from this side?  Dean doesn't dare to ask._

Quarrel

_"Chuck Norris," Dean crows as he pushes the DVD player closed, holding Sam off with one arm while Cas tilts his head and purses his mouth.  "I don't understand the importance of this triumph, Dean.  It's just a --"  "SHUT UP, CAS," the boys shout._

Quitting

_Dean is sixteen, Sammy is twelve, and the cigarette butt on the ground is the last one, he swears, because he'll be damned before he'll get his little brother into this shit._

(When She Says) Jump

_"Dude, you are whipped," Sam laughs.  Dean shakes his head.  "The fact remains, little bro -- tonight, you'll be researching pay-per-view while I... will be having hot sex with an actual woman."_

Jester (it's Carnival, it's Mardi Gras, it's a circus, whatever)

_The man on stilts spins idly by, and Sam gives Dean a thank-you shove and a powdered-sugar smirk, "Hoodoo jinxes or no hoodoo jinxes, this was definitely a better case than a rampaging Alaskan moose."_

Jousting (companion to Whimsy)

_Sam pricks his brother's elbow with the tiny green sword that came with his fruit cup, and Dean pinches his knee under the table so his father won't see.  The silent giggles are infectious, and Castiel, watching from another booth, must use his hand to mask his grin._

Jewel

_Alone, Sam dunks his hand into the waste basket, finds it, and stuffs it into his jacket pocket.  Who knew when they would need it again._

Just

_"Cas, Castiel!" Sam cries, falling to his knees at the edge of the debris, "The building, it -- and he's still in there -- please, just --"  A flap of wings, and Castiel is beside him, cradling Dean's too-still shoulders and concentrating as he presses two fingers to Dean's grimy forehead._

Smirk

_Once outside and away from Raphael's glare, Castiel glances at his companion and feels his face twitch to mirror the other's.  "It's about time we got one over on those dicks," Dean says placidly._

Sorrow

_Cas enters Sam's ward and is overwhelmed by the memories -- the emotions -- that flood him: the palpable fear, the self-loathing, the sadness, the guilt, and Sam's internal screams as the wall fell.  And he knows he has to make it right._

Stupidity (follows Bane)

_"Oh my god, Dean.  I said that_ right _before you left."  "No way you did, I'd've heard you."  "Do you_ ever _pay attention to what I'm saying, you moron?"  "Bitch."  "Jerk!"_

Serenade

_Sam wakes up in the backseat of the Impala because Dean is singing along to  "Heat of the Moment", quietly, and he feels like a tool because he can't sleep with it on.  "Wouldja turn that shit off?"  "It's Asia, man!"  "Please, Dean."  The driver's eyebrows go up and then down as the memory surfaces, and the station changes to hip-hop.  "Go back to sleep, assbutt."_

Sarcasm (or, How Many Dashes Can I Fit In One Sentence, or, Technically Not Sarcasm)

_"And I drank it," Cas says, and if the situation were not so world-endingly serious -- if Sam were not so focused on saving it -- and perhaps if Dean were here -- he'd be laughing his ass off at the angel's what-else-would-I-do-with-it tone._

Sordid

_"Your tainted brother and the Fallen angel must remain outside," the Mother Superior sniffs over her folded arms, and Dean moves forward to punch that disgusted look right off her face but is stopped by two pairs of hands grasping the tail of his jacket.  "There is no need to lower her opinion of you as well," says Castiel.  "We need someone to ask her about the girls' deaths," Sam agrees.  "For the record, you guys are way too nice," Dean snarls before composing his features and entering the abbey alone._

Soliloquy

_It is a form of torture to listen to his brother argue with a Devil who isn't even there._

Sojourn

_Six months he spent tracking the damned thing, and as the Trickster raises a hateful brow at his plea to bring Dean back, Sam realizes he remembers nothing of them._

Share

_"Gimme a fry."  "No freakin' way, Saladman."  "Don't slap me, you_ owe _me."  "Not my fries I don't.  Bitch!"  Then Cas slips Dean's second burger from his plate and takes a jaw-crackingly huge bite.  The boys stare.  "Damn, Cas."  "Y'know, if you were hungry, you could've told us."  "Yeah, now I've gotta go get another one -- dammit, Sam, do_ not _touch my fries!"_

Solitary

_I hate this, he thinks as he pulls on the shackles around his wrists.  He yells again, not because he expects an answer anymore, but because he doesn't want to think about what the silence means._

Nowhere (And Everywhere At Once)

_This wasn't written. This is new, Chuck thinks as Castiel and Dean Winchester materialize in the living room, and He smiles.  Destiny was never one of His better ideas anyway._

Neutral

_Sam glances at Dean, who makes a face, and they hold out their fists.  1-2-rocks.  1-2-scissors.  1-2-scissors.  1-2-rocks.  If they didn't need to be hiding right now, Cas is fairly certain they would be yelling at each other.  Possibly throwing punches.  As it is... they simultaneously turn identical pleading looks to him.  "I am not a part of this," he mouths frantically, holding up his hands._

Nuance (... this one's really long, for which I apologize)

_When they speak of the Winchesters -- a rare event, to be sure, and only ever among well-known friends -- talk doesn't center on their impressive armory, or their prowess at killing whatever-it-was that needed killing, or even on their bravery (there's been enough talk of that) (and everyone knows the Winchester type of bravery makes you deader than any other kind, many times over).  No.  They focus on the stupid things those boys do to get through the day.  The drinking, sure; the greasy food, of course; the bloody scraps that leave them silent and moody, doesn't everyone need to blow off a little steam now and again? but also how Dean can, will, and has recited The Wrath of Khan from memory (and it brings tears to his eyes); that Sam shoots wendigos out of trees with his eyes closed and has started wearing glasses to read his computer screen; that Dean shouts obscenities when Sam lets one rip, and Sam laughs until his brother joins him; how Sam hides vegetables and crushed vitamin tablets in Dean's meals while he's away from his food.  It's the little things._

Near (a Purgatory story)

_Dean's arms are around his shoulders, Dean's blood is on his hands, and Dean's breath is much too slow and shallow in his ear, and Castiel prays that the door back to Earth is closer than he calculated because he cannot bear to consider the alternative._

Natural

_Krissy slams the door open and glares down the barrel of her .45.  "Hah, what --" Sam yelps, startling from the sofa, but Dean just covers his ears as she puts a neat hole in the wall by Sam's elbow.  "We're hunting the same thing," she says to Dean, who gazes at the hole a moment before responding, "Nice shot, kid."_

Horizon (jfc this is nearly as long as Nuance)

_"Excuse me, what's the date?" Sam asks their waitress when she brings them their coffee, and Dean scowls when she tells them.  Sam, however, cracks a wide, sardonic smile.  "Here's to fifty years," he says, lifting his cup, and Dean clinks his against it.  "Y'know, for normal people, this is only halfway?"  "There's no way either of us are living to be a hundred, dude.  We're lucky to have gotten this far."  Sam brightens.  "We should celebrate!"  "C'mon, man, I just did Christmas for you."  "That was months ago."  "It was, like, three weeks ago._ And _we went out for New Year's."  "We_ worked _New Year's."  "There were fireworks!"  But Sam -- jesus, the kid is forty-five and his stupid sad-puppy routine must work better with wrinkles because Dean is already agreeing to having a stupid party, which will probably just end up being Sam and him at Jody's, watching a movie and drinking and pretending they're normal.  Maybe Cas will show.  Maybe Jody's got pie.  "Okay, okay," Dean says._

Valiant

_Phil has been a San Francisco fireman for almost ten years, has known Sam and Dean Winchester for two, and figures it was a poltergeist.  He walks over to the guys as they get checked over by the EMTs.  "We were just up the street when we heard the sirens, smelled the smoke," Sam tells him with a shrug while his hand gets wrapped in gauze and Dean breathes deeply into an O2 mask.  "Apparently the father dropped a cigarette on the carpet.  Just glad we got the kids out."_

Virtuous

_Dean closes his eyes as the news continues, but he can't hear it, he can only see Nancy's pretty, pale face, and hear her ask if her friends would live if she would die, and he doesn't want it, he doesn't want to feel this anymore._

Victory (in Three Parts)

_The first time, Castiel stares at Dean's uplifted hand in concern for two whole seconds before placing his palm gently against his, then quickly retracts it at Sam's chuckles.  Dean also has trouble keeping a straight face._

_The second time, Dean and Sam demonstrate before Dean turns to Cas, and their hands meet with a resounding_ crack _that has Dean cursing and clutching his fingers and Sam leaning heavily on the Impala, unable to breathe, eyes tearing._

_The third time, Cas offers his hand first, and Dean slaps it with a grin, and Sam whoops and says, "Me next!"_

Defeat

_Never could get the hang of Thursdays, Dean said once, and as Sam holds his brother's cooling body on a Wednesday, he thinks, just one more Thursday, please, for me, Dean._


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eighty-two, this time. Again, blatantly ignored the one-sentence rule. Better for it.

Awareness

_They crouch against the wall, and Sam is peering around the corner when he feels the urge to meet Dean's eyes -- and the man has this ravaged, stupid look on his face.  "We_ can't _, Dean," Sam whispers, incredulous, while the Leviathans tear into the engine of the Impala and Dean almost gives them away with a keening sound, closing his eyes._  

Beside (a Purgatory story)

_Dean is alone a long time before Castiel returns to him, and he can't keep the hope away.  "Earth is nearby," the angel confirms, and it may be the most beautiful poetry Dean's ever heard._

Bite

_"I fucking hate South Carolina in the summer," Dean says, swatting uselessly at the bloodsuckers, and Sam resists scratching his arms.  "You hate this state year-round, Dean."  "Yes!"_

Blaze

_The demon takes an involuntary step away from her prey when the younger Winchester lifts his head and meets her gaze.  He shouldn't still have his demonic powers after the aborted apocalypse, but the fire in his eyes hints at a strength she can't otherwise explain.  "You won't hurt him.  Or anyone.  Ever.  Again," he states in a low voice, and then he throws a match and torches her bones._

Brood

_"We're hunters, not nannies," Sam says as Dean lifts one crying child into the air.  Dean ignores him, cooing, "I promise the wraithy-waithy won't get you guys," at the gaggle of first-graders they've released from the upstairs bedroom.  Sam echoes falteringly, "Wraithy... waithy?" but Dean is holding hands with as many of the kids as possible, and, for now, Sam doesn't have the heart to tease him about his paternal urges._

(Missed My) Calling

_"Sammy... you're actually good at this," Dean says around a mouthful, eyes wide and disbelieving.  "When the hell were you going to tell me you can bake a kickass pie?"_

Choose

_No, impossible, no, Dean's mind is screaming, but he says, "Sam," without hesitation -- there is no contest.  Years later, he thinks back on his decision and tortures himself with other scenarios: Sam or Bobby?  or -- Heaven forbid -- Sam or Cas? And he wants to puke._

Classic (or, In Which Castiel Is Aziraphale To Dean's GO Crowley)

_"Mozart's fortieth symphony is a classic, Dean.  I would hardly call anything with 'misery' in the title a classic."  "Man, Heaven needs to move into the twentieth century."_

Close

_Tiny creaks and rusty shrieks are hell in his ears as the door to the panic room shuts._

Commit

_It isn't until Sam looks up at (to) him in that stupid white room that Dean realizes he has already made up his mind about this no-chance-in-hell, last-minute plan.  "Of course, I have a few conditions."_

Compliment

_Cas desperately displays his grace for a brief moment and the warehouse brightens, forcing the remaining imps to flee.  Then he kneels by the Winchesters and, fingers to foreheads, pulls their souls gently back into their healed bodies.  After, Sam watches him with wonder and chokes, "_ That's _your grace, Cas?"  He can feel his brow furrow in confusion, and looks to Dean -- whose embarrassed flinch away and unshed tears speak for him.  "It's... uh..." Sam whispers, and Cas fails to smother his shy pleasure at the boys' awe._

Darling

_"I ordered for you, sweetie."  A raised eyebrow.  "Thanks... honey."  The girl's smile falters.  Sam takes his seat and Dean takes his hand on the table, smiling fakely and then glancing at their much-too-young waitress to make sure she gets the message.  Sam tightens his hand in his brother's and tries not to laugh, not to give it away, and the poor thing stutters and leaves.  "Good timing," Dean grumbles, retrieving his hand, and Sam smirks and replies, "Anything for you, dear."_

Dispose

_"You've become an annoyance, little Castiel," Raphael snarls, lifting a hand -- but Dean and Sam's voices are calling out to him, giving him an escape route -- and he is suddenly with them, alive and whole.  He wishes he could take a moment to compose himself, to express his gratitude or his fear.  Instead he pushes it all down and asks, harsher than he intends, "What do you need?"_

Easy (precedes Wonder)

_Cas worries that paradise has made them less than they were, like still frames from a film, until Sam says, "Took you long enough," and as he takes offense he realizes Sam is joking, and he is again surprised at how simple it is to join in their teasing and camaraderie.  No one says_ I missed you _or_ It's darker without you around _, the way they do in other heavens -- saying things they couldn't or didn't while mortal -- they get in the car, and they drive, and Cas finally relaxes because nothing has changed._

(A For) Effort

_"You're not even trying," Sammy insists at his elbow.  "You could_ ace _this if you'd just --"  "Shut up, okay?"  "But, Dean --"  "Look, I'm glad I'm not a geek like you, alright?  School's for wusses."  Sammy's expression, however, is making him feel like a failure of a big brother, so he reopens the textbook._

Electrify (follows Choose)

_They restart his heart, and Dean comes to with a gasp and grasping hands, one clutching Sam's plaid and the other captured by Castiel's clammy fingers, and his eyes flit between their faces, indecisive.  "I can't, can't decide anymore," and his grip tightens.  Sam reappropriates the hand fisted in his shirt and frowns, but Cas can read the terror off the pages of Dean's mind; he assures, "You don't have to."  "We're here, you're okay," Sam soothes._

Elusive

_The sigils on the doors to this heaven give a forceful warning, so Castiel projects thoughts of safety and amity before entering.  The soul behind the bar has a shotgun trained on him anyway.  "Are you Ash?" he inquires, displaying his palms.  "Yeah," he responds, shouldering the gun.  "You're that angel keeping Sam-n-Dean alive, aintcha?"  Castiel ducks his head in surprised acknowledgement.  "Well, I 'spect I owe you a drink for that.  Cold one?"_

Empire

_Sam swallows another gulp of beer and stares with cottony eyes at the computer screen, wondering exactly how without his brother and Cas he's going to take down the rest of the corporate Leviathan horde._

Everybody (Get Down)

_"I need all of you," the man with the soldier's eyes whispers clearly, "to remain calm and quiet in here until my brother and I get back.  Do you understand?"  They nod, because ex-Marines know when to fall back and take orders, but when the brothers' yelling and gunfire get close, many of them shout and hit the floor.  Fucking PTSD._  

Excite

_"There's been a disturbance in Orlando, Florida, I suspect the work of demons," Cas intones, which must have accompanying fireworks and fanfare for Sam is suddenly wide awake and upright in his seat, looking for all the world like clowns have just been outlawed._  

Fading

_It's late on a Friday in 2097, and Porter just wants to go home to dinner, but this customer is particularly difficult to please.  When, in the last desperate act of a hungry nine-to-five car salesman, he shows him the piece in the back, Porter is surprised to see the longing in the other's face, to hear the gravelly, "I'll take it," to note the hand diving into a pocket of the old-fashioned beige overcoat to retrieve a wad of cash.  Porter frowns, reiterating, "It won't run," but the man just agrees, "Her soul is gone," so he decides not to tell him about the weird sigils under the hood -- he has a feeling the customer already knows they're there._

Fake (It 'Til You Make It)

_Dean smiles at them from across the table, and Sam thinks the tension from the past two years might literally be melting off his bones.  Cas, beside him, senses the shift in his mood and asks if something's wrong.  "Nothing, absolutely nothing," it's been so long since you smiled for real, Dean._

Falter

_They nearly go down because there's gravel in his boots and Dean is no weak duckling but Sam is fuckin' heavy, okay?  Then he readjusts his brother's arm over his shoulders and manages another step._

Fate (Can Be A Bitch) (a Crazy!Cas Chronicle)

_"This may be my fault," Cas says sheepishly with his wrongwrongwrong smile.  "Atropos didn't seem to like my peace offering of honey very much."  "Why's she taking it out on us?" Dean howls._

Fighting (a Purgatory story)

_They haven't been walking for more than an hour, and Cas has put his angel blade through thirteen bodies_ on purpose _, and Dean can't help but think being in this place might have a (bloody) silver lining._

Final

_"I mean it, Dean," he'd said with that earnest look Dean had never seen shared with another soul, and it echoes in his head as he grips the bottle tighter and begs for those not to have been the last words the bastard ever said to him._

Fit

_"Ow!" Sam yelps as he slides into the passenger seat, and Dad may be missing or hurt or dead, but damned if Dean doesn't think his brother's gawky, too-long limbs aren't the funniest things to ride shotgun ever._

Flat

_"There's nothing left, Sammy, 'sides a gooey red pancake," Dean says to him from the ledge, cocky and satisfied, while Sam, both shoulders dislocated, frowns at Dean's choice of words, controls his breathing, and concentrates on keeping the few contents of his stomach where they are._

Fragment (or, Parallel Pain)

_Castiel cuts his palm on a shard of glass in the ruin of the campaign offices, and a moment of clarity leaks through the monstrous swarm of his thoughts.  The Winchesters' prayers -- Dean's angry, Sam's confused and pleading -- slam to the forefront of his mind.  "What have I_ done _?"_

Friend (a Crazy!Cas Chronicle)

_"Homer" meows incessantly, and Dean thinks they're really gonna have to cut this visit short because he's getting a headache, when suddenly Cas is pushing the bundle of fur into his arms with a quick, "Could you hold him a minute?" and Dean curses the vanished angel as the tiny claws dig into his sleeves._

Glass

_Memories of the flayed bodies in the morgue and of another mirror reflecting rivulets of blood tracking down their cheeks are enough to hold the boys' curiosity about the cursed compact at bay._

Guess

_Sam wants to beat his head against the wall.  "But we don't have all the facts, Dean!"  "When do we ever?"_

Haunt

_"Bobby," Rufus's non-voice lingers warningly, but he pulls on his cap and mentally hisses back, "They need me!"_

Haze

_The first time they receive warning of Cas's imminent visit, they are an hour outside of Chicago and the rain has reduced their speed to a tormenting forty miles per hour.  Sam shifts uncomfortably in his seat while Dean watches the road.  "What?"  "There's a... black feather in my pocket?"  "I hoped it would serve as sufficient notice for my appear--" Cas begins from the back, but is cut off by Dean's loud curse and swerve on the flooded highway.  When their heart rates return to something like normal, Sam puts a hand on Dean's arm and says, "Thanks, Cas.  Next time, we'll know."_

Heartfelt (Is For Chick Flicks)

_We spend way too much time in morgues in February, Sam decides as he frowns at Dean's nineteenth raw-human-heart Valentine offering to him in seven years._

Honor

_"You agreed to duel a samurai?!"  "A_ ghost _samurai, Sammy."  "That's even worse!  You don't know the first thing about swordfights!"  "Sure I do: stick it with the pointy end."  "Cas, back me up here?"  "This_ is _foolish, Dean --"  "See!"  "-- but I see no other way to satisfy the ghost's honor and put him to rest."  "Yeah!  Knew you'd be on my side, man."  "Dean, this is serious!"_

Immortal

_For five hundred million years Castiel enjoyed his existence as an angel, but then the light faded from Sam and Dean's eyes and, with a powerful anguish, he realized how badly he wished he could follow them._

Inert (a consequence of Dean Reads Kerouac)

_"Man, I've wanted to try this for so long," Sam's brother says with a worrisome smile as they crest the peak of Tehachapi Pass and Dean throws her into neutral.  Thirty miles later, Sam has to do some deep breathing to unclench his stiff fingers from the edge of his seat, and Dean meets his terrified glare with a grin._

Innocence (Lost) (follows Natural)

_Dean watches Krissy as she curtly explains how her father kicked it last year, and he frowns at her colder gaze, her thinner figure, and at Sam's face, tightened with concern for them both._

Involved (companion to Dispose)

_"Or perhaps I should apply pressure elsewhere?" Raphael speculates, and Castiel feels the iciest fear sink deep in his center; Raphael's eyes are knowing.  "They cannot become involved, Castiel, or do not doubt that I will do whatever I must."  So when Dean growls out prayer after prayer begging him to show up and just explain and_ let us help you, dammit _, Cas stays away._

Irresistible

_When the call comes, Cas sighs, and somehow this communicates to the boys in the Impala that he has to leave again.  "Don't go."  "At least stay until we hit St. Louis."  "This is_ your _heaven," Cas feels obligated to remind them.  "You can make the trip to St. Louis much longer than it should be."  "Would we do that?"  Their grins are a paradise in themselves, so Cas gives in and crosses the green land with them until their sun starts to set._

Jagged

_It takes three hacks of his machete before the vamp's head falls off, and he looks up from the sticky blade to Sam's white face.  "Cutting it a little close?"  "I could do with a new freakin' whetstone, since someone, y'know,_ dropped mine in a lake _."_

Jealous

_It is difficult to come to terms with the fact that you hate someone who no longer exists, and when he's heard as much as he can stomach about his soulless year-and-a-half from Cas, Sam really does have to swallow back bile, because the Other Sam_ stole _that time from him -- and what's worse is there's nothing he can do about it now._

Leave (companion to Whimsy)

_Cas miscalculates the jump once and lands in 1995, Flagstaff.  Sixteen-year-old Dean is alone in a motel room, holding a scrawled note from his brother and... crying.  It takes only a second for Cas to realize his error but already Dean is zipping around the room, packing a small bag, his face dry, but his eyes are guarded and hard.  Cas feels a momentary urge to drag the Sam Winchester of his time back here and force him to experience the direct consequences of abandoning his brother, but it would be futile.  He knows how this story ends, and in the future the brothers are at peace with one another, and that must be enough._

Listen (a Purgatory story)

_Cas claps a hand over his mouth, holds him down against the base of the tree, and all Dean can see for an interminable minute is the angel's wide, scanning eyes and the blood dripping down his neck._

Meaning

_Sam glances across the restaurant to see Dean scratching his ear, and his attention sharpens as his brother takes two sips from his drink, rolls up one sleeve, then meets his eyes.  "Dammit, Dean."  You'd think witches would stay the fuck away from Salem, Massachusetts, wouldn't you, Sam thinks as he begins to search for the two hex bags._

Measure (Of A Man)

_Dean Winchester levels one of his shotguns at Victor's head, and for a paralyzing moment the fed thinks it's all been a ruse and the Winchesters have finally knocked him off their trails for good before Dean yells, "Get down!" and waits for him to move before blasting away another demon._

Mistakes

_"I'm so sorry," she whispers to Dean, whose broad shoulders shake with grief he won't release from his hands or dead expression, but then he looks up -- once he's standing, she can hear it too.  "Oh my god," she says, eyes wide and turning to the figure running toward them, and then Dean's running toward him, and she's never been so glad to be wrong._

Mountains

_"How much further?" Cas asks with what might be a whine as the Impala cruises over the more twisted portion of I-80 through the Rockies.  Sam glances at his brother, drooling in the passenger seat, before answering: somewhere between fifty and eighty miles.  Cas, in the rearview, looks a bit green as he says, "Pray for me when the curvature of the road becomes less hostile," and disappears._

Name (a Crazy!Cas Chronicle)

_In the ward Sam says, "Hey Castiel," their eyes meet, and for a single second Castiel remembers himself.  He realizes the look on Sam's face is of gratitude and loyalty and love, and for that one second, it is more empowering than a hundred million souls._

Need

_He's not entirely surprised when Sam puts his hands on his shoulders and squeezes, so he reels him in and does it properly, despite the way his sewage-soaked shirt clings and chafes between them._  

Neglect (or, Bela I Miss You Terribly) 

_She runs outside just in time to see her Civic peel out of the lot with two gleeful honks.  "Bloody Winchesters!" she screeches to the wind._

Nightmare

_If this is my dream, Sam thinks as he stares absently at his new phone with his only contact name -- Amelia -- blinking on the screen, why do I want to wake up?_

Now

_"You know," Sam says to him through the mirror, rocking back on his heels, and the tiny smile says Dean should get in a cutting remark before he continues, "technically, I'm older than you."_

Open (follows Now)

_Dean's mouth is cavernous until he comes back to himself and growls, rather possessively, "The_ hell _you are," with a fast flick of soapy water into his brother's laughing eye._

Painstaking (a Nesting Chronicle?)

_Sam hears, "But I made you a lasagna!  The least you could do is be grateful!" through the bathroom door and almost grins before the influenza again drags his head toward the toilet._

Quake

_The ground surges beneath their feet, and Dean's gun goes off twice, probably unintentionally, but Crowley raises his hands and brow.  "That bit wasn't us, lads."_

Rest

_"Here?"_

_Dean nods.  Sam smiles._

Rich

_Sam's cursor hovers uncertainly on the screen as he chews his lip: there's enough zeroes in the money order that a few could go missing with none the wiser for a long time -- but he's not Dean.  He's got principles._

Sacrifice (follows Rich)

_Sam is about to hit 'end' when he remembers the nightmarish week last month, when the Impala broke down and Dean had to resort to stealing the parts to fix her, and he thinks, to hell with principles._

Searching

_"Do you think they'll find us here?"  "Who?"  "Anybody looking.  Feds.  Demons."  Dean's glass clinks on the table as he purses his lips at the thick stone walls and ancient electrical wiring.  "I think we're as off the grid as old Frank was, Sammy.  You worry too much."_

Seasons

_Spring is wet asphalt and the car is finally warm in the sunshine again.  Summer is a breeze off the lake, and hot late nights clutching weapons that can kill anything but mosquitos.  Fall is every small town boasting about its pies and the chill in the air isn't necessarily from a restless spirit.  Winter is gratitude this case requires matches, and thirty points if you hit Cas in the face with that snowball._

Semantics

_"I just took a tumble, Sam, no big."  "Off a_ cliff _."  "Yeah.  Whatever."_

Solve

_He is getting nervous because the mom is sending anxious, desperate looks to the door and this could turn really ugly really fast if they don't get some answers quick -- and then Sam's huge hand on his shoulder is tugging him toward one particular symbol on the wall.  "So, get this..."_

Soon

_Wait for me, Dean, Sam thinks as Amelia passes out on the couch, and he takes another long swig._

Spider

_Dean's hands brush them off Sam's back and hair as he tries not to shout or flail in panic -- he's forty-five, for chrissake._

Spirit(ed)

_So they go to a small farm in Georgia that offers lessons, and Sam cackles from his steed's back while Dean dances with his own, one foot in the stirrup and one hopping in the mud.  "Shut up, Sam!"_  

Starlight

_The clouds clear miraculously, and the low blue light hits the stone font.  After a long second of wondering why they ever thought this would work, Sam sees the runes begin to glow.  Dean lets out a low whistle and cocks a brow up at him.  "Alright, Galadriel, let's do this."_

Strange (or, Flashbacks)

_He puts the burger on a plate and for the first time in months he smells_ Lisa _; it transports him there, to handing the plate to Ben before the soccer game and making small talk with the other dads.  Back when normal was normal.  (And Sam was---)  He sets the plate down in real-time in front of Sam without really seeing him until he looks into his brother's face and finds the exasperated-amused-apprehensive-fond eyes boring into his.  Reality presses through the memories, stamps them out again.  "You made this?"_

Strings 

_The interior of the car flashes with the passing streetlights, and Sam and Dean think about the barbed wire that pulls them together; it's on the tip of their tongues to bring it up, but Dean takes a slow glance at Sam, followed by Sam's sly staring at Dean, and neither of them say anything, but they smile to themselves._  

Stumble

_"Well, are we in?"  "Uh..." "Uh?  What's uh mean?"  "Not sure why that didn't... uh..."   Sam is frowning hard at the screen, and Dean wipes a hand over his face.  "Are you telling me_ you _can't hack this computer?"  "I was a_ law _student, Dean, not a hacker."_

Superstar

_The stocky, powerful hunter is still wet enough behind the ears to ask for their autographs before they part ways._

Sweet (a Nesting Chronicle)

_"Get your ugly sasquatch hands outta that bowl!" Dean roars from his room, but Dean is also wearing an apron, so Sam helps himself to another spoonful of cookie dough and snickers loud enough to be heard._  

Swift

_The demon begins to slice into his brother and a fury he hasn't felt in centuries rises up in his chest.  He breaks the demons' holds on him (as well as a few arms) with a reckless speed -- and then Dean begins to scream.  Afterward, Dean pants, "Man you move a lot faster than I remember," with a bloody chuckle.  Sam grits his teeth.  "Just need the right motivation, I guess."_

Tender (post-trials)

_It's over, Castiel thinks with a grateful prayer, and watches Dean clean his brother's exhausted, smiling face._

Threat

_Sam puts a protective hand on the hood of the car, gaze wistful, and Dean politely tells the skinflint to fuck himself.  "You won't get her to start again," wheedles the parts dealer, and Sam interrupts, "Yeah he will."_

(Double) Trouble

_The twin boys romp around the motel room like those possessed -- because they are.  "Hey, Toil, Trouble, sit down you little --!" Dean manages before the demigods tackle him to the floor._

Turn (It Up)

_The music clicks off.  "Please, Dean."  "No."  "Please."  "_ No _."  "... Please?"  "Jesus, no, I said!"  He points to himself.  "Driver."  He points to Sam.  "Shotgun.  Zip it, and hand me that Black Sabbath tape."  Instead, Sam beats his skull against the passenger-side window._

Unfold (a Crazy!Cas Chronicle) (also Megstiel.  Sorry I'm not sorry.)

_Meg stands in the doorway, staring at the piles on the floor.  "Alrighty.  Didn't sleep, I take it?"  He doesn't respond, merely continues his work.  She picks one up and stares a moment before frowning.  "I thought you only needed a thousand to make a wish."  This makes him look up at her and smile.  Like an idiot.  "Yes."  "There's more than a thousand here, Clarence."  He nods, sets aside another paper star.  "The first two thousand were for Sam and Dean."  Of course they were, she thinks bitterly.  He says, "I'm sorry it's not done yet, but this pile is yours."  Her control on her meatsuit isn't quite good enough to quell the blush.  Her anger at her own reaction makes her hand twitch and clench, and he's at her side in a millisecond, holding her wrist and delicately prying apart her fingers.  "No, no, you can't -- if you break one they'll all fall down --" and it doesn't make much sense but his eyes blaze with a celestial light that isn't quite angelic, so she lets him have his star, battered but not undone._

Verbal (follows Unfold)

_"What about yours, Clarence?" she asks, meaning to hurt him with the words, but his answering small shake of the head is a little too pathetic: "What I want can't be granted with wishes."_

Waiting

_"Nothing more we can do until next month," Dean says resignedly.  "How about we, I dunno, just hang out here?" his little brother asks,  looking hopeful, and Dean mutters, "Why?  We're in the middle-o'-nowhere, Arizona."  "Well, I mean, not_ right here _, but... the Canyon, Dean, it's only forty minutes away..."  Dean's grin lights up the interior of the car._

(All) Work (And No Play) (a Nesting Chronicle) (verily more than one sentence)

_Two weeks after Henry Winchester's death, Sam isn't sure what time it is -- or even what day -- though Dean's been making sure he eats regular balanced meals and sleeps for at least six hours at a time.  He turns a page one afternoon and something strikes the back of his head.  He spins in his chair, one hand scrabbling for the 9-mm he could have sworn he left in the next chair.  Then he hears Dean's chuckle, and another ping-pong ball flies toward him.  He catches it and makes a face.  "Really, Dean?  What are you, twelve?"  "That would make you eight, kiddo," responds Dean's disembodied voice from the shadows of the bookshelves.  "My soul is_ centuries older _than yours," Sam protests, just before another ping-pong ball hits his cheek and Dean chuckles again.  "Oh, you must be right.  You've lost your moves, old man."  Another ping-pong ball sails toward him and misses.  Sam can't stop his own grin.  "Looks like I'm not the only one who's lost some moves."  "Oh yeah?"  Dean answers, stepping into the light and smirking as he bounces yet another ball into the air with a quick tap of his blue paddle.  "Where did you even find all of these?" Sam asks him, holding up a ball.  "There's a game room, Sammy," Dean says, eyes sparkling, and he whacks the ball toward Sam's face before turning and disappearing down a corridor beyond the books.  Sam dodges the ball, chucks his own toward his brother's retreating back, and chases after him._

Wrap

_"Aw, are you two having a moment?" Lucifer says from over Dean's shoulder, and Sam flinches but Dean's grip on his wrist is strong, steady, and Sam, staring at his brother's worried face, thinks yeah, we are.  Lucifer flickers._


End file.
